What’s New - The latest special event production news from Bright Ideas Event Coordinators.

Year 8 of 24 -  it was 1995 and I was quickly becoming the “Picnic Queen of Vancouver”.

Our Corporate Picnics were such fun and so well organized.  At the height of our Picnic season, we were coordinating 50 – 60 Company Picnics per year.  Sadly today with such a poor economy, we coordinate less than a dozen.

One thing I learnt early on in my career is that an event is so much better when you add a theme. So I developed 20 themed Picnic Packages and started marketing them like crazy.  It was such a smart idea because once I had researched the event components I simply amended them to suit the group size.

Here is a photo of me at one of our early picnics.  Notice the old cellular phone with the long antennae lying on the table?  This is so ancient!  I wonder what ever happened to that phone.  Probably in phone heaven with the dozens of other phones I used to have.

We were coordinating picnics for all sorts of clients and really enjoying the process.  Some basic “must have’s” back then were Petting Zoo, Eating Contests, Relays, 9 Hole Mini Golf, Face painting/Balloon Twisting and of course Barbecue Basics like Hot Dogs & Hamburgers, Watermelon and Cookies.

I really got to know the rhythm of an event during these dozens of company picnics.  I could sense when the crowd was bored and getting restless, when they were over stimulated or when they really didn’t want to be there.  I started to develop a sense of what was needed to completely satisfy everyone at a company picnic.  Our largest company picnic was for 1,100 people and it was a Nautical Theme.  What a great time that was!

Besides company picnics, we were experimenting with a variety of other events outside of the summer season. We created a customized Game Show for the BC Teachers Union.  That was a blast!

During our Christmas parties we were bringing in all sorts of talent and entertainment to change your typical Christmas Party.  We brought in Hawaiian dancers with indoor fireworks, female impersonator Tracey Bell who blew people away with her incredible talent and the guys over at Murder Unlimited for our Improv Shows.

By now I could really see a distinct division in our sale; we had a summer and a winter season.  Now what to do in between seasons?  Well you know me, I tried something else.  Pumpkins!

The BC Home Show was having a Halloween them added to their fall show and asked us to help them decorate and create an activity for the attendees.  I of course thought of Pumpkins, so brought in 700 pumpkins for a pumpkin painting contest. Look at the sea of pumpkins!  By the end of this event I felt like Picasso after all of the painting I did. When I look back now I actually did a pretty good job for a girl who never took any art lessons.